Minnesota House Could Vote on Wolf Trapping Ban

ST. PAUL (AP) - Wolf hunting opponents plan to make a move in the Minnesota House to stop wolf trapping.

Rep. Jason Isaacson, DFL-Shoreview, has authored an amendment to a broad natural resources bill slated to come up on the House floor Thursday. His amendment would impose a five-year moratorium on wolf trapping, retroactive to when the state's wolves came off the endangered list last year. The state would have to provide an opportunity for public comment before trapping could resume.

The amendment also includes a four-year ban on taking wolves in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area.

A Senate committee approved a five-year wolf hunting-and-trapping moratorium a month ago, but that proposal has advanced no further.

Hunters and trappers killed 413 wolves in Minnesota's first wolf season, which ended in January.